The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-06-02

work, aud was rewarded few rods farther on
by having loaded Enfield rifle TO bring to bear
ON piece Of artillery that, full mounted, some
800 feet 10 the northeast, was making its best
time down the eastern slope.
"ShOot the leaders," yelled the same un-
military Sergeant that had ordered the Colonel
TO deploy the column earlier in the action. and
half a dozen loyal rifles brought down the
leading team, which caused the whole outfit
10 roll up into a conglOmerste mass of men and
horses, topped out by a 6ne piece Of artillery
that had done its last service in the interests of
the Confederacy.
The style of cunning we enjoyed as we
pushed northward on the ridge was brought TO
halt couple OF hundred yards further on by
the rebels meeting their reserve, which was ap-
preaching from the north. and we soon found
that our miXcdup line had IFS hands full. 1t
had really the hardest part OF the work of the
day before il, and soon discovered. too, that 10
fall back was the better part of valor. The
advancing rebels were evidently in earnest,
and the writer still carries an evidence of some
body dy'smarksmanshir, for the moment we turned
our backs 10 the foe he felt shock, and an in-
stint later a benumbed leg warned him that if
he got ont Of that dilemma il must be by using
his Enfield for a crutch.
A few rods further TO the rear line of our
brigade tTurchin's was forming across the
their tender care; and they did their work
well-at least so history tells US. We who had
been in the way of rebel bullets, and were able,
did not wait 10 see the balance Of the little
melee on Mission Ridge, but dragged our broken
bodies down the west slope. speaking cheering
word TO such rs had fallen wounded before
reaching the summit, and were hustled off TO
enjoy the sweets of hospital life by way OF
variety.
MISSION RIDGE
was not great battle, but for results was one
OF the most complete victories gained over the
enemy during the war Bragg's great error
lay in his estimate Of the calibor Of the army
occupying the front Of the center OF his line.
He assumed that the old Army of the Cumber-
land was whipped and had lost Its old-time
energy, a belief common among some Of the
leading Generals on our side at the time, but
a conclusion not justified by the facts. The
old army of Geo. II. Thomas was never
whipped body of troops. From its organiZa-
ton under Buell., early in 1862, until dishanded
as the Fourteenth Corps, at Alexandria, Va, in
the Summer of 1865, il was never whipped
Does the reader of history remember what
body of troops proved the salvation Of Grants
army at Shiloh; or the namc OF the army which.
at Stone River, rallied after its right had been
shattered into fragments, and held the enemy
that was largely superior in numbers through
offensive and drove that enemy from the feld2
Or need / remind him of that deadly struggle
on Horseshoe Ridge, at Chckamauga, which
history now and in future years will recognize
rs the most persistent death grapple of armies
recorded in modern times
The writer does not trust entirely 10 memory
in making up the foundation for his assertion
as to the unbroken spirit of our old army at
the time referred 10. he turns over the faded
pages Of an old diary. many sentences in which
We're begun just before rebel shell had started
toward US on its mission and finished after il
had done its work in our camp, but all breathe
a spirit Of patriotic determi nation that nights
OF shivering over meager campfres and days
and weeks of half or quarter TaliOns could not
Quell.
SOUTHERN WRITERS
seem TO find great consolation in the assertion
that their army was so greatly inferior in num-
bers TO that of Grants at the time of the battle,
aud having made this assertion quite frequently
since the war, and probably added orsubtracted
bit each time TO make il more cOnsoling, the
prepOnderance Of numbers on our side Is most
astonishing at the present time, according to
Southern accounts, and makes an old veteran,
TO say the least, feel little bit rcsontful; or,
il he believe the accounts referred 10, feel
sense Of humiliation 10 know that there were
no troops ia the works on Missionary Ridge
it wasn't much of a fight after all.
Now the writer would be the last man TO
wish to keep alive old animosities and has
always tried TO give the Confederate soldiers
and the Brigadiers on our side credit for all
that there was in them, but when an occasional
general officer comes forward and claims a
great victory as brought about by "A slight agi-
tation Of his ponderous brain, and the Southern
literad keep whiting our victories down TO
mere nominal skirmishes, in justice TO ourselves
and the grand old boys who died at our elbows
somebody needs 10 rise up and confront those
disparagcrs with the facts as they were.
A writer in prominent Southern magazine,
In a recent article, speaking Of Mission Ridge,
says: Ii was carried by one of the most daring
and brilliant achievements of the war and at
comparatively small loss, most unaccOnntably,
too, except that our guns could not be depressed
enough because Of the steep slopes 10 do much
execution" That may sound well enough TO
the present generati@n but how the old veteran
will smile when he has read that far, and will
very likely suggest that if an army wish to
retain possession Of a line Of works the best
plan is 10 stay there and keep the other fellows
out by shooting and using the bayonet To
have placed the old defeated and crushed
Army Of the Cumberland in the rebel works
on Nov. %, 1863, and the Confederate army
/ three 10 one ina the assault, each Yankee on the
summit would have brought down
OR WINGED AT LEAST TWO REBELS
before they reached the works and then been
able TO keep the third out with Government
steel.
But when this Southern writer says further
on that their army came out Of the battle as
badly crushed as Rosecrans's had been two
months before at Chickamauga,p / imagine
see the sarcastic smile OF the old veteran again
as he says, why didn't the rebels come up and
take Chattanooga, then?" We could have
gone all over the South after Mission Ridge
but for our army running short Of shoes SO we
waited 10 get reshod and make those shoes last
until we had finished our contract of "three
years or dur" till we'd whaled en-; and
they did.
SUNDAY MEDITATION.
| Practical Duties Taught by Shady OF the later.
national Sunday Lesson Appointed fOl